Your data is the basis of your research. If you lose your data, recovery could be slow, costly, or impossible. It is important that you secure, store, and backup your data on a regular basis. Securing your data will help to prevent:

Accidental or malicious damage/modification to data

Theft of valuable data

Breach of confidentiality agreements and privacy laws

Premature release of data, which can void intellectual property claims

Release before data have been checked for accuracy and authenticity

Keeping reliable backups is an important part of data management. Regular backups protect against the risk of damage or loss due to hardware failure, software or media faults, viruses or hacking, power failure, or even human errors.